Just a third will get the treatment that is most likely to keep them alive.

The crisis in caring for sufferers is laid bare today by Pancreatic Cancer UK which reveals those with more common types of the killer disease are twice as likely to receive life-extending or potentially life-saving treatments.

Analysis by the charity shows less than ten per cent of people with pancreatic cancer have surgery compared with almost half of patients with all common cancers.

They will today demand action to address the injustice.

TV and radio presenter Nicholas Owen, 71, who lost his father to pancreatic cancer, said: “I know only too well how much change is needed for all of us affected by this disease.

“My father died in 1981 and since then, there have been very few new treatments introduced and precious little progress in the way that people with the disease are cared for.

“That must urgently change, and I am very proud to be a part of a movement paving the way towards that.”

Pancreatic cancer claims the lives of almost 9,000 people in the UK each year. The charity is fighting to ensure more people struck down by the disease receive life-extending or life-saving treatments and more trials are performed to improve survival rates.

Eight in 10 sufferers are diagnosed at an advanced stage where life-saving treatment is not an option.

The call for action comes as the charity hosts a summit today showcasing innovative pancreatic cancer care from around the UK.

Chief executive Diana Jupp said: “Having a diagnosis is devastating for all patients, but seven in ten are then completely shattered by the news there is no way of treating their cancer.

“All they are offered is some relief for their symptoms, and they face an awful prognosis. We must now bring about a new dawn for people affected by the disease.

“More patients must receive treatment which will give them the best chance of living for longer, or surviving – and everyone diagnosed must receive the best possible treatment and care for them.

“To achieve this step change for people affected, we need patients to be diagnosed earlier and more treatment options for those who are diagnosed.”